Are you taking unnecessary risk with your digital project rollout?

Balancing risk vs results is always a challenge but are you taking unnecessary risks when adopting new digital systems/processes?

When planning a large investment for a new CRM or website, possibly one of the largest investments your organisation has made in some time, you should have some peace of mind that it’s going to be a success. Every year we hear of transformational digital projects (large and small) that are delivered with underwhelming results. Where an organisation has invested £10’s and sometimes £100’s of thousands for minimal gain.

Success vs failure

There is a critical area, that often gets missed, that you need to think about in addition to the actual systems, employee engagement! Proactive organisation engagement from the start is key. Ensuring you have the right and engaged sponsorship at the top of the organisation is vital to the project success, but you cannot forget or underestimate the importance of employee engagement.

“Why wouldn’t the staff embrace a new system, they are all saying they are wasting too much time with manual work arounds and sticking plasters. What’s not to like? “

Failed or struggling projects are usually born from making this type of assumption, time must be devoted to good timely communication and adequate training. However good the new system is, if it isn’t adopted then you are back to square one and recovering from that position is very hard as first impressions have been made and last.

Even when team members are keen to have a new system, there will be thoughts and discussions circulating that you need to address.

Automation, will this mean job losses?
Does automation mean lack of the personal touch, will our members like it?
How are we going to fit in learning a new system in addition to the day job?
What are the benefits for me and the member?
Who has represented the needs of the actual user, or has this just been created top down?

Your project success depends on minimizing this risk factor, while there will always be individuals that are not 100% bought into the change, if planned right, you can take the majority on them on this journey with you through having a good understanding of their skills and commitment to change.

Engage the wider team from the very start, communicate the plan, the next steps, help them understand the roadmap and the benefit of the transformation, focus on the benefits for them as well as the members. While it may sound laborious, just providing training and hoping it will stick will not work. If people feel engaged and part of the process and that they can feedback along the way you are more likely to succeed.

All to often this part in the project is skipped or minimised for one reason or another, but this can have a massive negative impact, resulting in a sub optimal roll out.

We have created several articles that may be of interest to you when planning for digital change – please click here.

Chrysalis Digital provides a digital transformation service designed to help build a more agile, efficient and innovative organisation. With its broad cross-sector experience Chrysalis has helped many organisations map their digital path and through careful planning and assessment, choose the right technology partners. Chrysalis Digital is 100% agnostic when recommending CMS and CRM suppliers to its clients.